2021 Polaris Music Prize Shortlist Announced
On Thursday (July 15), organizers of the Polaris Music Prize announced the 10 albums short-listed for the $50K prize, with the ultimate winner to be announced on Sept. 27.

By FYI Staff
On Thursday (July 15), organizers of the Polaris Music Prize announced the 10 albums short-listed for the $50K prize, with the ultimate winner to be announced on Sept. 27.
Every year since 2006, the PMP has been awarded to a Canadian album of distinction, without regard to musical genre or commercial popularity. The nine runners-up from the short list each receive $3,000, provided by Slaight Music.
Presenting sponsor of the Awards is CBC Music. Major sponsors are as follows: FACTOR, the Government of Canada, Slaight Music, and Radio StarMaker Fund.
The 2021 Polaris Music Prize Short List nominees, as follows::
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – Theory of Ice
Cadence Weapon – Parallel World
DijahSB – Head Above The Waters
Dominique Fils-Aimé – Three Little Words
Mustafa – When Smoke Rises
The OBGMs – The Ends
Klô Pelgag – Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs
TOBi – Elements Vol. 1
The Weather Station – Ignorance
Zoon – Bleached Wavves
Past winners of the annual Award include Backxwash (2020), Haviah Mighty (2019), Jeremy Dutcher (2018), Lido Pimienta (2017), Kaytranada (2016), Buffy Sainte-Marie (2015), Tanya Tagaq (2014), Godspeed You! Black Emperor (2013), Feist (2012), Arcade Fire (2011), Karkwa (2010), Fucked Up (2009), Caribou (2008), Patrick Watson (2007) and Final Fantasy, aka Owen Pallett, (2006).
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Ed Sheeran Topples Drake's 8-Week Chart Supremacy
Ed Sheeran’s = debuts at No.
By External Source
Ed Sheeran’s = debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, achieving the highest album and digital song sales, and on-demand streams for the week and ending Drake’s eight consecutive weeks run at the top of the chart. It is Sheeran’s fourth consecutive album to debut at No. 1.
The remainder of the top five falls one position from last week’s chart, with Drake’s Certified Lover Boy, Lil Nas X’s Montero, Doja Cat’s Planet Her and The Kid Laroi’s F*ck Love sitting at Nos. 2 through 5.
Francophone rapper Enima debuts at No.15 with Resilience, his highest-charted album to date. His previous top peak was #35 with his 2018 release OPN.
Mastodon’s Hushed and Grim debuts at No. 18, the American metal band’s first release since Emperor Of Sand reached No. 4 in March 2017.
The War On Drugs’ I Don’t Live Here Anymore debuts at No. 33, their first release since A Deeper Understanding peaked at No. 8 in 2017.
Thanks to consumption activity around Halloween for the title cut, Michael Jackson’s Thriller bullets 90-26, the album’s highest chart position in the SoundScan era.
– All data courtesy of SoundScan with additional detail provided by MRC Data's Paul Tuch